Conveyer



C. R.A ALVEY' April 19, 1932.

CONVEYER 2 Sheets-Shee'cl l Filed Feb. 8. 1930 6% /g /NVNTo/Q:

#as prv-Gem 1 pifil 19 193.2 c. R. ALVEY 1,854,287

` coNvEYER Filed Feb. 8, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 19, 1932 UNITED STATE-s CHARLES RAYMOND ALVEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNR 'TO 'ALVEY lVlIANTJELAC-V ATWT @tric-E TUBING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF 'MISSOURI convnYn Application 'mea February is, 1930. serial No. 426,793.

My invention relates to the type of conveyer commonly known as a pusher bar elevator, In conveyers'of this type it is often desirable to deliver articles therefrom at a certain predetermined point `or points intermediate the travelV of the elevator; and the principal object of this invention is toy providesimple means l for accomplishing same.

The invention consists principally in providing the intermediate point or points along the elevator 'where articles are to be delivered therefrom with devices which deect the articles from 'said elevator, said deiecting devices 'being operated by a suitable' mechanism which enables an operator feeding articles onto said elevator to operate said devices at any point 'or points along said elevator. My invention also consists in the construction, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter 'described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Vwhich form part of this specification and wherein like numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur, Y

Fig; 1 is a diagrammatic side view Lof the pusher bar elevator embodying my invention showing several intermediate points at which articles may be deflected therefrom,

F ig. 2 is a detail front view of a deflecting device,

F ig. '3 is a detail side view of the device shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 is a detail view of a pusher bar.

The pusher bar elevator is of any suitable type. construction in general illustrated in the drawings comprises a vertical shaft framework 1 extending through openings 2 on each floor of the structure in which theelevator is mounted, said framework being curved near the bottom of said elevator to the horizontal, the horizontal portion thereof constituting a means for feeding said elevator. The framework of the elevator comprises frontand rear vertical sprocket chain guides 3, together with front and rear vertical guideways for articles riding on said elevator, said guide members all being held together as a 'framework Vby Ahorizontal cross-members 5 extending across the openings in each floor,

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 theV said cross-members 5 of each loor being li'i'mly secured to the oor and all of the 'guide members.

dust `above each floor, or at any point at which articles are to be deflected `from said elevator a horizontal side cross-brace 6 is secured to the guide members, and just above this point an opening is provided in the front elevator guideway, vwhereby an article may be ejected at this point. Located opposite said openings, a section is provided in the rear elevator guideway in the formof a deflect'or gate? capabler of swinging into the path of an article riding 'on said elevator and causing it tofbe ejected on a bedfof gravity rolls S :adapted to receive said article. At the top of the opening in the front guideway isa'second horiZontal cross-brace 9 on which is fiile-ruined a swinging Vcover 10 adapted to close the opening in the front elevator guideway and allow articles to pass thereby. BothV the front cover lOand the deflector gate 7 are connected by connecting members 11 on each side of said framework, so that they operate conjointly and said connecting members are of such a length and so arranged that the deflectorgate 7 is not capable of 'deilecting articles when the swing'- ing cover 10 is closed, and the passage of an article at that point is not effected thereby. Referring particularly to Figs. l2 and a counterweight arm12 providedwith a 'suit'- able counterweight 13 is fulcrume'd on one side of the framework 1, said counterweight arm being 'operatively connected to the swinging cover so that the 'counterweighn if allowed to lower, causes the parts connected therewith to deflect an article from'said elevator. A cable 14 is attached to the otherend of saidfcounte-rweight arm opposite lthe counterweight 13, said cable lllevtendingy to any point along Vsaid elevator, whereby the deflecting device may be set in a position tov either eject articles fromsaid elevator or let them pass by.

1n detail the construction illustrated vin the drawings comprises a pairof continuous sprocketch'ains l'provided at regular intervals with pusher'bars 16, said sprocket chains bein'gmounted-on sprocket wheels 17 suitleo ably supported at the top and bottom of the elevator. The sprocket wheels at the top of the elevator are driven by an electric motor 18 or any other suitable source of power.

f Said motor 18 is preferably mounted on the viously, as many floors as desired may be interposed between the three floors and said top floor, without departing from' my invention.

Located a slight distance in front of wall 19, and suitably bolted to the cross-members 5, are the rear sprocket chain guide members comprising two angles 20 whose iianges extend inwardly and constitute the guide for said sprocket chains in their downward travel on each side ot said elevator. Located near the front ot the elevator and suitably secured to the cross-members 5 are two sets of angles 21 whose ianges constitute the front sprocket chain guides for said sprocket chains during their upward travel. The rear elevator guideway comprises angles 22 secured to said cross-members 5 on each side of the elevator and about midway of the sprocket chain guides, said angles supporting sheet metal 23 or like material. The front elevator guideway comprises angles 241 suitably secured to said cross-members 5, said angles supporting sheet metal 25 or other material similar to the rear guideway. Both the front and rear guideways with their supporting side angles do not extend the whole length of said elevator but the front guideway terminates a suitable distance above each licor and provides an opening through which articles are to be deliected; whereas the rear guideway member terminates a slight distance above that point at which the front guideway terminates.

rIhe horizontal side cross-braces 6 secured to said guide angles extend from the rear of said elevator to a slight distance beyond the front of said elevator, and a similar crossbrace 26 extends across the front of said elevator and is mounted on the underside of said cross-braces 6. rlwo angles 27 are secured to said front cross-brace 26 near each end, and the roller 8 is mounted thereon which is the iirst roller of the bed of gravity rollers designed toreceive articles deflected at that point from said elevator. Suitably bolted to the front cross-brace 26 on each side and just outside each angle 27 are two vertical plates 28 which support curved angles 29 in the form of a quarter-circle, whose vertical portions are secured to the front sprocket chain guide members, and on one side of said elevator secured to the side cross-brace 6 is a U-shaped member 30 on which is mounted a pulley 31. Said curved angles 29 together with their supporting vertical plates 28 consti-tute a side guideway for an article ejected from said elevator and is designed to prevent articles from falling ot'f to the side of the bed of gravity rollers 8.

The deflector gate comprises a shaft 32 mounted on the rear guide angles at each point of deflection, lever arms 33 being mounted thereon. Ilwo brackets 34 extend from each lever arm and a plate 35 of sheet metal or like material and similar to the front and rear elevator guideways is secured to said brackets, said lever arms being so arranged that the sheet metal plates 35 may be swung in the path ot an article traveling on the elevator and engage said article so as to tip said article from the vertical, and cause it to slip off the engaging pusher bar and fall upon the bed of gravity rollers 8, said rollers carrying it away from the elevator. Secured near the top ot' said lever arms 33 are the connecting members 11.

The swinging cover 10 comprises a pair of lever arms 36 mounted on swivel posts 37. Each of said swivel posts are mounted on a plate 38 suitably bolted to the top horizontal side cross-braces 9, said cross-braces being secured to the upright guide members with gusset plates 39 being` interposed between the sprocket chain guides and said cross braces 9 for stiffness. Preferably an angle 40 extends across the front of the elevator at the top of the opening in the front guideway and is suitably bolted to both the side top cross braces and the side angles of the front guideway, and mounted on said lever arms 36 is a plate 41 of sheet metal or the like. The connecting members 11 are secured to said lever arms 36 near the top ot said lever arms and are of such a length, and so arranged that when the front cover closes the opening in the front guideway, said delector gate swings to a vertical position in direct alinement with the rear elevator guideway.

The counterweight arm 12 is mounted on one of the swivel posts on the same side of the elevator as is pulley 31, and is operatively connected to the swinging cover. The weight 13 provided on said coun ei-weight arm 12 is in such position thereon as to slightly overbalance the parts connected therewith and hence be capable of swinging the front cover plate from a vertical position and open the front guideway at that point. Attached to the end of said counterweight arm and opposite the counterweight 13 is the cable 14 that runs over said pulley 31 said pulley guiding said cable into a guide pipe -1-2 mounted on a bracket` 13 extending from a horizontal angle 14, said angle being suitably secured to said framework 1. Said bracket 13 may be of any size so that as many guide pipes as necessary may be secured to it, it being obvious that each deiecting device is operated by a separate cable and, therefore, the number of guide pipes necessary being the same as the number of deliecting devices embodied in any one construction.

Preferably a lever 45 actuated by a spring 46 is mounted near the bottom of said elevator so as to crowd an article placed on the elevator over the front of said elevator so that the cent-er of gravity of said article is on the front side of the pusher bar engaging it.

The operation of the hereinabove described construction is as follows: For the purpose of clarifying this description I have shown articles in dotted lines riding on said conveyer and designated in different positions as A, B, C and D. An article to be fed on said elevator is placed on the horizontal portion thereof and is shown in the drawings as in position A. It is then engaged by a pusher bar, from whence it is carried to the bottom vertical portion of said elevator whereupon the crowding device forces said article to the front of said elevator sho-wn in position B.

It is obvious in this connection that all the deiiecting devices are normally closed. The end of each cable leading to each deflecting device is provided with a ring l? said ring being placed over a suitable hook preferably at the bottom of said elevator thereby locking each deiiecting device. In order to eject the article at any point therefore, the cable operating the deflector gate at that point is unhooked whereupon the weight on the counterweight arm raises the fro-nt cover and causes the deiiector gate to engage said article whereupon said article is tipped as shown in position C, from whence it slips oft' the pusher bar onto the bed of gravity rollers and is carried to position D,

It is also obvious, that in addition to operating said cables at the bottom of said elevator the guide pipes may be broken away at any point or points along said elevator and any other necessary hooks may be provided for said cables, whereby said cables may be operated at any one of these points along said elevator.

What I claim is:

l. An elevator comprising an upright framework, means for conveying articles therein, guideways for articles in said elevator, a defiector gate mounted on said `framework normally in direct alinement with one of said guideways and capable of swinging diagonally across the line of travel of an article in said elevator, a swinging cover mounted on said framework and normally in direct alinement with the other guideway, said deflector gate and said cover being connected together for conjoint action and means for actuating the same.

2. An elevator comprising an upright framework, sprocket chains mounted therein, pusher bars mounted on said sprocket chains, a motor operatively connected to said sprocket chains, front and rear guideways for articles ascending in said elevator, a deflector gate mounted on said framework normally in direct alinement with the rear guideway and capable of swinging diagonally across the line of travel of the ascending article to eject the same, a swinging cover mounted on said framework opposite said deflector gate and normally in direct alinement with the front guideway, said front cover being operatively connected with said deflector gate for conjoint action and means for actuating said front cover.

3. An elevator comprising an upright framework, a plurality of deflector gates mounted to engage an article traveling in said elevator, swinging covers mounted on said framework opposite each deflector .gate and operatively connected thereto, each defleotor gate and swinging cover in their normal position constituting article guides, a weighted lever operatively connected to each swinging cover, cables attached to each weighted lever and normally holding each lever in a position so as to prevent operation of said delector gates, and means for holding said cables independently of each other whereby any deiiector gate may beoperated from different points along said framework to eject an article from said elevator.

4. An elevator comprising an upright framework, sprocket wheels mounted thereon, continuous parallel sprocket chains mounted on said sprocket wheels, pusher bars mounted on said sprocket chains, a source of power operatively connected to said sprocket wheels, a deflector gate mounted on said framework and capable of engaging an ascending article, means for crowding an article to the front of said elevator before reaching said deflector gate whereby said article upon engaging said deflector gate will be tipped oftl its engaging pusher bar and be ejected from said elevator.

5. An elevator comprising an upright framework, means for conveying articles therein, a deflector gate mounted on said framework, said defiector gate mounted to swing diagonally across the line of travel of an ascending article to eject said article, a swinging cover mounted on said framework and operatively connected to said deflector gateha weighted lever operatively connected to said swinging cover, a member secured to said cover and means for attaching said member to said framework to normally prevent operation of said deiiector gate and means for manually operating said members.

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Signed at New York, N. Y., this 3rd day Y 

